The Doggy Garden Fence

Welcome,

UPDATE: 22 June 2008 I have added the most recent photos of the garden the plants have filled out and provided the first bumper crop. The fence has effectively worked and kept the dogs out. Although one did a couple swipe at the garden but failed. Enjoy the photos below.

Here you will find my Instructable The Doggy Garden Fence. This fence cost me around $7 out of new materails, a small price when growing organic food. Take a look and if you enjoy it please give me a plus.

History
If you have seen my other Instructables then you may have looked at my Raised Tomato Garden. It came out pretty nice, but my dogs kept getting into it and digging it apart. I tried different fencing ideas but never had the time to build complete a nice fenced area.

So here it is. I hope you enjoy this Instructable, learn something from it, add suggestions to it, or at the least will generate some other ideas of your own because of it.

Read on and enjoy.

F.Y.I - This Instructable goes along with another one of my instructables The Doggy Retreat you will see it in the corner of the final step photos.

I created the picture below with Google's Sketchup software.

This Instructable updated 4-30-2008
New pictures added that show plant growth (step 5) and adding in the creeping vine for shade coverage.

Safety
Number one safety protocol: don't be stupid, respect your tools because they can maim or kill you.

I used
Safety glasses
Ear plugs
Work gloves
Intelligence (The wife argues this point)

Tools
Air compressor
Staple/Nail gun
10 inch Table saw with a 40 tooth blade
Measuring tape and square
A Pencil

Materials
(2) 10ft 2x4 studs
Pack of staples, but I didn't use the whole pack
Gallon of oil stain.

When I was at Home Depot I thought I had bought 2"x4"x10' but it turns out I bought 2"x4"x104" I saw the 10 of the 104 and thought it was a 10 footer. Silly me and it skewed my measurements of course. It just so happens I bought a couple extras just in case.

Here are the measurements of the material you will need.

I spaced my stakes out by 1 foot increments and each stake is 2.5 ft long by 1.5"x 1.5".

You will need to figure out how many stakes you need, then make your cuts. I needed 10, so I cut 5 sections of 2x4x2.5ft.

Let me say it again, I cut my 2x4's into 2'5" sections because each section will give you two stakes of 1.5"x 1.5" after you rip it.

Now set your rip fence on your table saw to 1.5 inches, I just truned a 2x4 on its side and set the fence to it. I did this because a 2x4 is really only a 1.5x3.5, don't ask me why. Any way this will give you your 1.5 inch setting for ripping.

OK rip you 2x4x2.5ft boards into 1.5" x 1.5" x 2.5 ft sections. (see the pics below) You will end up having a strip of .25 in x 2.5ft lattice left over. You will use it later so hold on to it.

I also use my table saw to cut one end of each of my stakes in to somewhat close to a point to be able to drive them into the ground easier.

Ok nest step.

Just a note to remember I used a 40 tooth blade that is 1/8th inch thick, so for every two cuts I made I lost 1/4 inch of material.

Time to make the lattice.
If you have an extra 2.5 ft board left from making stakes GREAT!
If not you will need to cut a couple more.
Once you have your 2.5 board set your rip fence to .25 inch and start ripping your lattice. Rip as many as you need or just rip one at a time as you go along. I needed 9 2.5 ft pieces.

After you have your 2.5ft lattice you will need to cut some 1ft sections of your 2x4's. You will end up ripping these one ft sections as well they will be the horizontal lattice pieces.
Do you math and figure out what you will need or again just rip one at a time as you go along. I needed 36 pieces.

Once you get all of your lattice cut then lets move on to putting the fence together in the next step.

You may want to plant your plants before making the fence. It will be eaise to do, it was in my case.

The first step in building the frame is to drive your stakes. That is after you have your measuremets of where you want to drive the stakes. I only drove mine down 6 inches into the dirt. I wanted at least a fence that was 2 ft high.

I used a old 2 ft iron fence piece to help me measure the first few stake placements. You will see it in the pics below.

At this point I used my staple gun to shoot staples through the lattice an into the stakes.

As I went along, after I drove the stakes in the ground, I attached two rows of the horizontal lattice for stability and proper measurements.

Attaching the top piece of horizontal lattice helped me gage my distance between stakes. (see pic 4)

After I had all of the stakes and two levels of horizonatal lattice asseymbled I started placing the 2.5 verticle lattice half way between each stake and drove them 6 inches into the ground ( more stability) Then I used the staple gun and attached them.

I folloed behind that with installing the other two rows of horizontal lattice.

I repeated this until I was finished.

By the way a staple gun is easy and fun to use. Plus it makes short work of your tasks.

On to the next task, the stain.

In this step we will stain, it is that easy. My son who is 8 started staining the fence for me while I was working on the Doggy Retreat Instructable, it goes right next to the fence.

Go grab your stain and start staining. I used Redwood stain, it was not my first choice in color. It was pretty cheap at Home Depot @ $7.98 a gallon compared to $30 cedar stain, I went for the cheaper stuff.

I know the redwood is bight against the stucco wall. In the pictures it is actually a little brighter than it really is. When the plants start to get big it won't look so loud. The green from the plants will bring it all together.

There you have it a "Doggy Garden Fence"

I still have a small pile of dirt infront of the fence to move. After I move it the are will come together nicely.

I hope you have enjoyed this ible, or have become inspired by it. If you decided to build something like it let me know because I would love to see it.

Enjoy your day.